Macrobathra leucopeda Meyrick, 1886
 (one synonym : Macrobathra lamprotypa Turner, 1932)
COSMOPTERIGINAE,   COSMOPTERIGIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Macrobathra leucopeda
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

These Caterpillars are brown with off-white between the segments. The caterpillars have an amber head, and a black prothorax and anal plate. The body tapers towards the tail. The caterpillars have been found feeding apparently exclusively on

  • Sunshine Wattle ( Acacia terminalis, MIMOSACEAE ).

    The caterpillars pupate in a tube of leaflets joined with silk.

    Macrobathra leucopeda
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adult moths of this species have black forewings each crossed by two white bands and some bold white patches. The hindwings are brown. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

    The species occurs in :

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory, and
  • Victoria.

    Further reading :

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera: XII: Oecophoridae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 10, Part 4 (1886), p. 813, No. 494

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    (written 3 February 2013, updated 12 January 2021)